Angel Fire
by Phantom Joker's Revenge
Summary: When Ri was eleven years old, she was taken by a group of scientists and was prodded, tortured, and plucked until she was something else. When she finally breaks out, her only thought is going back to her best friend, The Joker. When she arrives at Gotham's new villain's doorstep, Bane promises to help her break out her first love. But what happens when Bane falls in love with Ri?
1. Breaking Out

AngelFire. That was her code name. That was what her experiment had been called. The one they used on her. She hadn't been a scientist before, so it technically wasn't her experiment, but it was only used on her, and was directly tweaked to fit her body. So AngelFire was hers, and it was hers to destroy. To destroy so no other innocent human being had to go through this sadistic torture the white coats had made her endure.

Ri waited for the right moment, it had been seven, or eight years. Too long without seeing his face, his happy grin. She had to get out now, the experiment was complete, the only step left was to lobotomize her so she became a mindless slave to be prodded and sampled some more. She was at peak power, having carefully picked out the food that hadn't been filled with sedatives. They put in normal food sometimes, and this she kept, so she could eat and get to the maximum strength she could obtain in her condition.

She waited patiently, for her weekly walk around the compound. With the animal strategy mixed with knowing feeling she mysteriously had, she had pinpointed the weakest spot in the wall, a small corner in one of the white halls she had the privilege to see. There, the story above it, had gotten flooded a few years ago, and had rusted the metal on the inside. It wasn't visible to the human eye, but the white coats had made sure she didn't have human eyes any more. They were strengthened and she could pinpoint movements faster than before. She could even see better in the dark now.

That spot was the weakest, and it was the only corner that looked out into the grounds, the other halls she was led around were in the inside circle and fortified by two walls, plus the outside wall.

The grounds were surrounded by six feet electrical fences, proving how scientists are idiots when it comes to the practical side of things. Since her experiment worked, she wouldn't be stopped by a measly six feet, even if she was 5'4.

It was time, the dark skinned white coat was coming to get her. After so long being held here, she didn't feel any remorse leaving it behind.  
It was funny, first she had defended a man they called a monster but wasn't, and now she was being tortured by monsters who they called scientists and exceptional citizens.  
They should all burn.

But she knew, as well as he, before they caught her, that she was too innocent to kill anybody herself.

The only reason she was burning the place down, was so nobody else could get the information on her experiment and use it on any other defenseless beings.

Ri was taken, her hands were cuffed, her eyes made sure to get a glazed look, and she followed the man in front of her without any resistance as usual. They thought she was already dead on the inside, so they had gotten sloppy, they didn't put the metal band around her torso today. That was good, her skin was still raw and bruised from yesterday. This was going better than she thought it would.

She was taken through the white halls, and she felt herself feeling lighter the closer they got to the corner where she would make her escape. She was ready. In one, two, and finally, three.

She pulled hard against the leash the man in front of her was holding, he let go in surprise, and before he could yell out to the guards just around the corner, she took the leash and strangled him with it, cutting off his air until he fell in a dead faint. Ri didn't want to kill anybody. But it was for the greater good that the information died. With a deep breath, she ran and used the tools the white coats had installed in her.

The next few minutes were a blur. Crashing into the wall, terrifying the white coats into a state of panic, the whole building on fire. For the first time in seven or so years, she could breathe in the fresh air. She took to the skies and flew as fast as she could. Away from the African continent they held her, and across the sea to where he was.

To Gotham City.

Ri was ten when she met her first love. She never played with the boys after school so she never had a kindergarten crush. Instead she helped her sister and caretaker, at her massage salon. Her sister taught her how to heal so when she was older she could start working, and she would never forget those lessons, even if she couldn't remember her sister. She had been her only biological family, but that was the end of their relationship.

So she didn't cry the day she died. She just kept on walking through the big bad city. The funeral service had ended, and she had nowhere to go now. She would have to go to some kind of foster care soon, but until then, until they found her, she could keep on walking through the rain and neon signs. Ri didn't even notice she was in the part of town known for being the Joker's home base. Ri didn't even notice the man with a gun following her. Ri only noticed the puddles forming on the sidewalk. She had found a penny, a pretty button, and two nickels to add to her pocket collection of knickknacks. She had just bent down and picked up a strange looking playing card, when the man with a gun grabbed her, and knocked her unconscious.

Ri woke up to her hands behind her back, and being held with handcuffs. The room she was being held was a grayish blue with windows running along the top of the brick walls. The windows let in some light, the kind you get after the sun sets. Ri looked around and noticed there were a lot of people in here as well as her. Ri didn't feel comfortable with all of these people. They were all older than her, and they looked at her like they looked at her at her sister's funeral. She even noticed that the priest who had done the ceremony was here. It didn't smell good in here, and a lot of the women were crying. They all had been handcuffed, and they weren't trying to escape. The windows were too far up, and they were all too far away from the walls in the large room. Not to mention the men with guns who were all standing around in random places. They all had clown masks on. Ri had seen magicians, but she had never seen a clown that wasn't at a birthday party. Ri liked magicians though.  
Just as Ri was beginning to think about the different magic tricks she liked, a door banged open and in entered a few more clown masked men with guns. Then everything changed.  
She saw him.

He was grinning his manic grin, and he had clown make up on, no mask. Ri briefly remembered watching an old western movie. The Indians had all worn war paint when going into a fight. He had war paint on, not make up. Make up was for girls who thought they looked prettier with it.  
He was tall, he had a purple suit on complete with a waistcoat and shirt of different green patterns. He had green curly hair. Ri wanted her hair to be green, her black hair was too boring. He walked in the room and a few people shrieked, making him snicker. His gaze flickered over everybody, but didn't stay in one spot. He finally rested his eyes on a business woman.

"So, eh, guess every body is here, eh?" He chuckled, and his voice sounded strange, almost like he was singing to an imaginary tune. Rising and falling. Ri liked it. Suddenly he pulled out a gun from his jacket and shot three people dead. A deadly silence fell over the room. He had shot the business women he had been looking at. Ri didn't know what to think of the fact that he had just killed three people. She would think about it later.

"Too many body's, if ya know what I mean." Was his only answer to the silent gasp in the room. He made his way through the people, nudging the silent people with his foot. He finally made his way right in front of Ri. He didn't notice her though. There were five people in between them, but from here, Ri could see his face clearer.

He had scars. They made him look like he was smiling even if he wasn't. They were even lathered in the red war paint in a strange smile. Ri felt bad. He must have been in pain when he got those scars.

"You evil, cold hearted man!" The priest's voice rang through the eerily silent room. The clown man stopped, standing still, and cocked his head as if questioning the priest.

"Cold hearted? Last time I checked I wasn't a reptile, god man." Was the clown man's reply.

"You're nothing but a crazy, insane, freak who's going to burn in hell!" Was the priest's angry reply.  
Ri never knew exactly what possessed her to do what she did. Maybe it was the pitying looks people were giving her. Maybe she just didn't like the priest. Maybe she hated how the priest didn't know this man, but called him insane and a freak. Maybe she had always hated the mean names that kids at school gave the special needs kids, and this situation reminded her too much of it.

"He's not crazy! And he's not a freak, you son of a bitch!" Ri stood up and yelled at the priest who looked quite shocked. If her sister had left her one thing, it was a hell of a vocabulary at her disposal. Her hands were in small fists behind her back, and she was very angry. How dare the priest say that! Wasn't the whole point of his stupid preaching, "love everybody"? Just because the clown man had scars, didn't make him a freak. That was horribly superficial.  
Everybody was quiet, even the clown masked men who had stopped patrolling to stare at her. The clown man was very still. He slowly turned around and his smile dropped from his face at the sight of the furious ten year old girl. He made his way, slowly, to her. She was still glaring at the shocked priest, not looking at him. Without turning around, he shot the priest's head. Now she looked at him. She kept her eyes on his the whole time he walked up to her. Never glanced at his scars, or at his hair, or even at his purple suit. He crouched down in front of her, getting them at the same eye level. He stared at her, no expression on his face, except a curious look in his deep brown eyes. He played with his gun, in his purple leather gloved hands before asking his question.

"Would you scream if I killed you right now, little girl? Would you, uh, beg me not to? Cry for mommy and daddy?" He asked, grinning widely. A loud gasp went through the room. He would dare kill this little girl? The man was grinning, chuckling under his breath really, but Ri felt like it was a test, so she thought about her answer.  
"I think I would laugh. It is kind of funny, after all." Ri finally answered, honesty was the best policy right? The clown man stopped chuckling and frowned. Ri looked down to the ground, she must have failed the test then.

"Take her to my room." The clown man ordered quietly. One of the guards stepped forward and took Ri's shoulder, leading her out of the room.  
The clown man never lost eye contact with her, and Ri could still feel his eyes on her back after the door closed.

It was very dark outside when the clown man returned to see Ri. The guard had escorted her to a large living type room. It was long, and on of the walls was one long window. They were very high up, probably on some type of hill, because you could see all of Gotham City from here. It was very pretty, full of twinkling lights. Ri's arms were starting to hurt from being behind her back for so long, but she kept still and sat on a long green leather couch facing the big window. There wasn't much in here, a corner bar with a lot of bottles of varying degrees of emptiness, a table filled with wires and books. An empty coffee table.

Finally his job was done, thank god for lackeys right? Those idiot hostages were already taken care of. He would enjoy making them scream tomorrow. He'd been practicing with some more surgical type manouvers with his knife. Maybe he could put a small bomb in a few of them and then tell the others to kill those, before they blew them all up. Ooh! Fun!

He had almost forgotten about the little girl, until he opened the door to find her sitting on his couch. She seemed to enjoy the view.

She defended him. Strange little girl. No one had ever defended him before. They all thought he was a freak, she knew he wasn't. She would have to stay with him. She was a keeper.

Ri turned around when she heard the door open. There he was, leaning against the door frame, looking at her. Ri felt herself blush and she turned around to look at the city. Joker walked over to her, and knelt down in front of her. He didn't want to play his games with her. He wanted to tell her his jokes and make her laugh, just like she said she would if he killed her. He took her handcuffs off and she rubbed them a little and stretched her pea coat covered arms.

"Why would you laugh, at uh, me blowing your pretty little head off?" Joker asked her, tilting his head to the right. Ri smiled, he was very curious, just like her.

"What's your name?" Ri asked.  
"Nuh, uh, I asked first!"  
"So you answer first!"  
"Uuf, fine. Joker." The Joker humphed.  
"I like it. It's like this card I found." Ri searched through her pockets until she found the card she had picked up earlier in the day. It was hand painted, old looking, and it was a Joker. She handed it to the Joker so he could take a look at it. The Joker took the card and looked it over, it would look nice in his collection, but it was hers, she had taken it out of her...

"Hey, didn't they search your pockets?"  
"I guess not. I have everything in here. Guess ten year olds aren't that dangerous. I'm off the radar."


	2. Finding Barsad

Ten year olds most certainly were off the radar, but seventeen year old science experiments weren't.

Ri was forced to use AngelFire to get to Gotham City. To get to _**him**_.

There was a lot of blue. A lot of salt. A lot of sun. Every thing hurts. That was all Ri could remember about her trip from the coast of Namibia to Gotham City. She hadn't stopped. Not that she could, she had been over an ocean.

But now? Now she could stop. She had reached the place where it felt like him. No more human instinct, all animal. She relied on her sense of smell, and her _**knowing**_, to tell her when it was safe. When it finally smelled like gasoline and matches and graffiti. She laid down on the pavement, and slept. She didn't care about how much she was bleeding, how she couldn't see anything anymore, or how she couldn't lift herself up. She was hidden, she was alive, she was safe, for the time being.

Barsad had been on the outside, enjoying the city air for a brief break, before going back into the sewers. It wasn't that he minded the sewers. He knew the risks of hiding above ground, he knew their mission was more important than his personal comfort. It was just nice to stretch his legs a bit. Bane was all right with it, he would go outside sometimes too. Mostly it was to check on _**Talia**_, who could care less about Bane's sense of well being, but sometimes he would just disappear and then come back a half hour later. Barsad thought it was good for him. He needed a break now and then so he could go back to the mission at full force.  
Today Barsad just walked around a bit. He kept to the alleyways and back streets so he wasn't seen. His ten minutes were already up, so he decided to duck into the next alley where there would be a sewer entrance and get back to Bane and the men. He strode through, and started lifting the man hole, when he heard a groan. Dropping the man hole and spinning around to where the noise was coming from with his gun pointed at the source, Barsad was in full on assassin mode. But what he saw, the source of the pained groan, almost made him drop his gun.  
There was a girl, a very beautiful, bloodied, girl She looked straight out of an asylum with her white floor length shift. It was ripped and stained with a lot of blood. She was twisted in a fetal position, her blue eyes looking straight ahead, seeing nothing in her pain.  
He had to help her.

He pocketed his gun, and picked the girl up. She fainted from the pain, but that didn't matter. He had to get her adequate medical attention, now. He shifted the man hole cover and jumped into the sewers. He wasn't thinking rationally at this point. She looked just like his own little girl had, before she'd...  
Don't think about that now, Barsad. Save this one.

He didn't stop running even while the patrol guards yelled at him, even when he got to the home base. Even when Bane stopped his work to look at what all the commotion was about. He didn't stop running until he was at Dr. Pavel's room. The Dr. had been reading on his cot before the crazed mercenary rushed in, carrying a bloodied girl.

No boring days when you were around criminals, huh?

"Help her! Help her now!" Barsad yelled at the shocked doctor. Dr. Leonid Pavel was a nuclear physicist, but he had a better understanding of medicine then the men here. He had become the unofficial doctor of the hoard of mercenaries. He jumped up and motioned to the second in command to put the girl on the cot. Her whole slip was bloodied, and also ripped. He found three major cuts, all in the ripped areas, and a lot of bruises. He took out his extensive first aid kit and took out a needle in thread to stitch her up. He finished threading the needle, and looked back down to his patient to find her watching him, conscious and bright eyed.

"You not Joker. Don't touch me." She growled at him. Literally growled. And she jumped off the cot to crouch in the corner of the room, watching the two men in the room and the open door. She crouched lower, and growled. Barsad and Dr. Pavel both did a double take. Who was this girl?

Ri wasn't in control now. The animal genes that had been meshed to her DNA, had taken over. She could hardly remember anything, everything was too sharp and focused. But she did remember that she didn't need any doctors. She self healed open wounds according to AngelFire. There was never a need for white coats.

Dr. Pavel and Barsad were in complete shock, her wounds were gone, completely. The only thing left were the bruises and dried blood. She looked a bit feral though, right now. She had growled at them. They raised their hands up in a show of submission.

Ri was now, more in control, she could remember things and her senses had stabilized. The sense of befuddlement always came when her animal instincts took control of her body.  
No clown masks. Don't trust.  
Doctor type man. Don't trust.  
Man with gun. Don't trust.

Attack? Not yet. Too big.

Ri's eyes focused from one man to the other. On one hand, one was armed and dangerous, on the other, one was a doctor, a type of white coat. What had the Joker, and experience told her? Don't trust white coats.

Bane had been peacefully perfecting his plans, when he heard a lot of commotion from the men. No matter, Barsad would take care of it. He turned around, expecting to see Barsad shutting them up, and instead saw him looking terrified, and carrying a white and red bundle to Dr. Pavel's room. It looked like a human being.  
What was Barsad doing?

Bane laid down his pen and walked up to Dr. Pavel's room that was on a lower level than his. He took his time, no need to rush, it's probably nothing important. He tried to tell himself that, but Barsad had looked terrified, and there was a lot of blood.

He walked to the opened door and entered the room. He noticed Dr. Pavel and Barsad looking completely baffled, some blood on the cot and floor, and in the corner, was a girl. A seventeen year old, maybe eighteen. Young woman really. She was the one covered in blood, but no open wounds or stitches. She had black hair, but she was so pale. Like she'd been inside for years. Even her blue eyes were pale. She looked so scared, so innocent. If she was scared of Dr. Pavel and Barsad, wait until she got a look at him. She would die of fright.

Ri sensed a presence enter the room, and staying aware of the two men's positions. She looked at the new presence in the doorway.

Huge. Ripped, really. Could crush her head with two fingers. Dangerous. Mask over his mouth and nose. It was black and looked like two skeleton hands were trying to rip his jaw open. Menacing.

She had never felt so safe.

Ri inched her way towards him, keeping her eyes on the other two men. She made her way along the wall swiftly, until her back came in contact with his chest. Stomach if you really want to be accurate.

Bane was curious. She was scared of the doctor, and Barsad. But one look at him, and she decides it's safer get closer to him?

Curiousness is the beginning of obsession. And he sure felt obsessed the moment she turned around and pinned him with those pale blue eyes.

She was scared, not of him, but of the world. So innocent. Innocent little girl. She was his in that moment that they're eyes met.  
Mine. Protect. Mine. Was Bane's only coherent thought. He didn't understand it the instant connection, but he knew, whatever innocence left in the world, was his to protect. That was his mission.

"Where...?" Her angel's voice asked as if unaccustomed to speaking. Ri felt the need to touch this giant of a man, establish some kind of contact to make her feel safe, but she doubted he would like that.

"You're in Gotham City's sewers, girl." The giant man's voice washed over her. It was smooth, but with a mechanical edge to it. Charismatic really. Hypnotizing. Almost like singing...That reminded her...

"Joker...? Need to...find...mine..." Ri's unused voice managed to spill before she fainted. Again.


	3. Joking Memories

**I just want to point out real quick, that this story will have "flashbacks" of Ri's time with the Joker, so you guys can get a feel for Ri's relationship with the Joker.**  
**Oh, and don't worry, the Joker is a lot of things, but a pedophile he isn't. Ri just had a innocent crush on Joker.**  
Enjoy!

* * *

Aria fell in love with her Joker. She knew that he hurt people, that he killed and stole. She wasn't an unobservant moron. She didn't turn blind from her love. She knew. And the Joker knew she knew, but he didn't talk about that with her. To the Joker she was his apprentice, his most valued possession, his angel of sorts. He didn't talk about business with her.  
He took care of her and she took care of him.  
When he came home dirty and bruised from stealing a bank or antagonizing Batman, she would carefully lower him onto his bed and sing a song for him so he fell asleep.

When she had nightmares, Joker would let her crawl on top of him and he rocked her till she fell asleep.  
The Joker taught her about explosives, and she learned quickly. She was interesting, not a normal ten year old. He wished she had been alive when he was her age, they would have been best friends and maybe his childhood wouldn't have been so dark that he could hardly remember anything but pain.  
She laughed at his jokes, she collected things in her pockets, she could do a cartwheel. She didn't like people calling him a freak, and she would hurt anybody who did. Really, you couldn't pay for this kind of devotion.  
The Joker was devoted to her too. She was his only friend, his best friend. She was his. The only two things that were his was Gotham, and Ri. And everybody knew what was the Joker's was not to be messed with.  
They never made plans, she never asked what time he would be home, or what he was doing. She was just like him, and she didn't deny it. They were both agents of chaos, only she didn't kill people, just helped with the explosives. She was always finding things and her pockets were famous with the hired help. The Joker had sent to be made one day, a unique purple floor length coat with pockets everywhere. Hidden pockets, specially made pockets, deep pockets, little pockets, secret pockets. Every kind of pocket she needed was in that coat and Ri had never been happier.

She was his best negotiator, one look in her innocent eyes, and people forked over their assets so he wouldn't "kill" her. She was very useful, and his best friend.

Ri's favorite memory of the Joker was a very simple one. He had taken his suit jacket off, leaving him in contrasting patterns on his waistcoat and shirt that was rolled up to his elbows. He had been staring at Gotham like he did. His green wavy hair was messy as always, and his war paint needed to be redone. His hands were full of smudges up to his elbows and his pants had a new patch. Ri thought he wouldn't turn around to look at her as she entered their rooms, he loved to stare at his city.

But Joker surprised her once again. He turned around and the widest most sincere smile graced his lips.  
"Come on Ri! Come over here, I set up some fireworks!" Joker grinned and held his arms out for her to jump in. He lifted her up, and she snuggled into his chest. Both of them just stared at the fireworks Joker had set up a couple of miles away. They didn't need to talk, they just needed each other.

Another favorite memory was when Joker came home with a lot of hair dye boxes. Ri would help him dye his hair so it was all covered in green. But this time he came home with other colors.

"Joker, you aren't thinkin' 'bout changing you hair color, are you? You remember how bad the orange looked. It was near damn impossible to take it off!" Ri stomped her foot and glared at Joker who was busy giggling to himself. Ri wasn't going to help him rinse it out this time, if he went a different color! It had taken her five hours last time!

"Silly Ri-bird! We're going to dye your hair!" Joker laughed and clapped his hands. The sink was all ready and there was blue, red, purple, yellow, orange, yellow, green, and even pink. Ri looked at the sink, at the Joker, at the sink again, and did the only logical thing a a ten year old would do if offered to have her hair dyed by a man who could barely do it himself. Oh, and one who had an obsession with giggling at inopportune times. She ran as fast as she could the other direction.  
"Oh come on Ri! I promise I won't mess it up!" Joker called from behind her, running to catch up with her.  
"No way! I'm not letting you dye my hair! No!" Ri yelled as the Joker caught her by her waist and hauled her back to the bathroom. Ri yelled, screamed, bit and kicked, but the Joker wanted her to dye her hair. And dye her hair he would.

A guard passed by the open bathroom door to find the Joker struggling to hold down a ten year old and trying to wet her hair at the same time.  
"Ahh! Help! He's going to get bleach in my eyes!" Ri yelled when she saw the guard pass by.  
"No I won't! Damn it! Hold still Ri! You! Nothing to see here! Fuck off!" Joker growled and the guard scrambled away.

Joker was finally able to dye her hair. It came out in a rainbow shade, due to Joker not knowing which color to use. When it had dried, Ri looked in the mirror.

"It doesn't look...that bad..." She mumbled as she stroked her pretty hair.

"I knew it would look great!" The Joker chuckled. Ri rolled her eyes and continued to stroke her hair.  
"Yeah, kick your ego down a notch, you're suffocating me here." Joker just rolled his eyes right back and picked her up, depositing her on his shoulders and walking over to his explosives room, where they would spend the rest of the day making various bombs.


	4. Escaping and Deals

Thank you all of you readers for reading this. And congratulations, for learning how to read.  
Any suggestions are welcome, this is the land of imagination and insanity.

PhantomJoker's Revenge.

So Long, and Thank you for all the Insanity.

* * *

Ri came to, two days later.

Barsad had asked Bane to keep her. Barsad had been his second for a long time, so Bane granted him his request. Besides, he couldn't let this strange, innocent girl out on the streets. Somebody might find her and do unspeakable things to her, and he couldn't let that happen, especially because she might tell somebody about their hiding place.

So the girl stayed in Barsad's room, until she woke up from her faint.

Ri didn't open her eyes yet, but she could hear everything around her. She needed to get out of here. There was a whitecoat, and strange men that could hurt her. She had gotten so far, she wasn't about to give up now. Ri could hear a man humming a small lullaby next to her from time to time, the constant drips from a hole in the ceiling two centimeters out from the right wall. She could hear him explain, that her wounds had reopened, and they had had to stitch them back up. He would talk sometimes in a language that Ri didn't understand, but she liked it. Ri cursed the stupid scientists that didn't make sure that her wounds wouldn't reopen. It wasn't exactly helpful to have wounds close, and reopen. Stupid fucking whitecoats.

Ri waited until she knew that the man who sang her lullabies was gone. She opened her eyes and leaped from the bed, letting her animal instincts take over her senses, but not her mind. She needed to stay focused, and letting her animal instincts control her mind wouldn't help her mission to escape.

She had been changed into a black longsleeved shirt and cargo pants. Someone had changed her, which was bad. No shoes, which was good. Ri took out a spring from the mattress, and slashed two long slashes into the back of her shirt. That way she could use AngelFire quicker. She noticed a pair of fingerless gloves on the back of a chair next to her bed, and she slipped them on. Ri took a deep breath, scenting the air, and ran out the door. The faster she went, the less likely people could catch her. She heard shouts from behind her, a few gunshots but she dodged those easily. The sewers were made in a snail type shape, so she just kept on going up, which was the best possibility to escape. The thunder of boots behind her were getting farther away as she picked up speed. She was reaching the inhuman speed that would unlock AngelFire, whether she wanted to or not. She turned a corner and ran up a hall, sensing the light that was ahead, she could hear water as well, like a waterfall. She ran and just as she was nearing the railing that she was going to jump, the masked man jumped out with his muscular arms spread out.

Quickly, with inhuman reflexes, Ri dropped to the floor, using her arm as a swivel, rushed underneath his outstretched arms and jumped back up, parallel to the railing. He turned as well, and they were facing each other. Ri panted harshly, and felt her hands twitching, she wanted to use AngelFire so badly. The masked man was in a fighting stance with his hands open and knees bent.

Ri growled lowly, in warning. The man growled back, his was deeper and rougher, it reverberated throughout the structure of the sewers, she could feel it inside her. She hadn't expected him to growl back. Ri would have just jumped into the rushing water, but her instincts were screaming at her to fight. Even with AngelFire, she knew she couldn't beat this massive man. AngelFire was the perfect spy program. More evasive than offensive.

Of course, her primitive animal genes took no notice of her human mind's thoughts.

Ri stared into the masked man's blue eyes, and without a second thought, lunged. Ri rolled her wrists, and AngelFire activated. Fire coated her gloves as she jumped up and went to punch the masked man's thick neck. The masked man would be too slow to punch her, although his right fist was on it's way to her jaw. The moment the fire would touch his skin, he would have to take care of the burning before attacking her, which would give her enough time to hit him again, or escape. A centimeter away from his neck, Ri's superior eyesight made out newspaper clippings behind him, on the wall. In between various news clippings, was Joker's face, with black marker circling his beautiful face. He was grinning wildly, that grin she loved. Faltering a mini second, the masked man grabbed her throat, and lifted her up, above his head. AngelFire deactivated as she scrambled to break his hold on her neck.

"What are you?" The masked man's charismatic voice echoed. Ri gripped his forearm tightly in an effort to not suffocate in his hand. His hand was so big that it could grip her neck comfortably.

"No!" Ri yelled wildly.  
"No? No to what?" Masked man's voice spoke calmly compared to Ri's animal speak.  
"Don't...My Joker." Ri struggled to form words, trying to remember how to speak. The worst drawback to AngelFire, other than being a freak, was the battle between her animal mind and her human mind.  
"What are you? What's your name?"  
"Ri."  
"Ri...My name is Bane, I'm going to ask you one more time, what are you?"  
"No...What are you going to do with Joker?!" Ri unlocked her human speech, trying to escape Bane's grip.  
"What business is it of yours what I do?" Bane growled, and the sound reverberated up to her throat, where she felt tingly from the powerful growl.  
"He. Is. Mine. I will kill you if you hurt him." Ri spit out. She knew it wasn't true. She couldn't kill this masked man, but if he was going to do something to Joker, she might.  
"You? What are you going to do against me?"

With that, Ri flicked her wrists, and fire rolled out and around her hands that were gripping his forearms. Bane looked at the fire rolling just above his skin, ready to critically burn him at a moments notice.  
What is this girl?  
What is she?  
Just as he was convinced she would burn his arm off, her fire flickered out, and she whimpered. Ri took off her gloves, quickly and laid her cool hands to Bane's skin. She had burned him, from the proximity to the fire she had created. She felt awful for hurting him. Bane watched as a few tears escaped Ri's eyes and traveled down his fist to his mildly burned fore arm, soothing the burn. Bane loosened his grip on her throat in shock and Ri scrambled from his hold and stepped onto the cold floor, holding onto his wrist as she lightly petted his arm, whimpering slightly. Bane let her, it felt good, and it clearly calmed her down.  
"I'm sorry." Ri whimpered quietly. She didn't mean to hurt him, just intimidate him slightly. Ri didn't want to hurt Bane. Or anybody else. The whitecoats were the only exception, and that was for the greater good.  
"It's all right, Ri. I'm fine." Bane rumbled, this girl was so innocent, she felt bad for hurting him. She was so close to him, and with no fear.

"What are you going to do with the Joker?" Ri asked, as she continued to pet his arm.  
"Are you going to stay here?" Bane saw his chance and took it.  
"What does that have to do with-" Ri began, and was interrupted by Bane.  
"If you stay here, tell me who you are, and obey me, I will set free your precious Joker from his prison."  
"You promise?" Ri asked after a few seconds.  
"As long as you keep you end of the deal."  
"All right. It's a deal."

Bane didn't break his hold on the girl's shoulder, she didn't have any shoes, and for some reason her shirt was ripped in the back, and she might try to run if she got desperate so Bane held onto her as he went to find Barsad. She could be very useful to him.

"Damn it! WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?!" Barsad's angry yell in his mother tongue echoed. Barsad seemed angry, very angry. Bane entered the large open room where Barsad was yelling at some men who looked frightened out of their wits. Instead of shying away, like he expected her to, Ri jumped out of his hold and tapped Barsad's shoulder. He whipped around angrily, but immediately softened at the sight of Ri. With a nod, Bane dismissed the other men. When he turned back after the men had closed the doors and left them, he noticed Barsad and Ri talking quietly.

"Thank you." Ri told Barsad, Bane had clearly only caught the end of their conversation, but Barsad looked pleased.

"Ri?" Bane's voice echoed throughout the room, creating a strange echo.  
"You want me to show you now, don't you?" Ri sighed, looking resigned to her fate.  
"Yes." Bane seemed to make each word he uttered, come out confidently and absolute.  
"I don't have a choice, do I?" Ri asked, and took a few steps back from Barsad and Bane.  
"One always has a choice." Bane's eyes narrowed at her stepping away, and he took a step forward towards Ri.  
"Yes, but I don't want to die right now, even if that isn't the worst thing that could happen." Ri muttered, thinking of her times in the Lab, where she was tortured daily. Because of her skin, she wouldn't get any scars, which allowed people to beat her as much as they wanted without fear of chastisement.  
"What would you know about pain?" Bane's angered voice was right up in her face, his mask was almost touching her small nose, and he held her up in the air, her arms pinned to her sides with his massive hands. Ri flinched away, and Bane's eyes seemed to get angrier.  
"Bane..." Barsad began to interrupt, fearing the worst.  
"Do you believe in God?" Ri asked simply.  
"No." Bane grounded out, what was this girl talking about?  
"Good, I wouldn't want you to think I was your guardian angel or something."

With that, Ri let AngelFire go. White wings snapped out of her back, and Bane dropped her like a hot potatoe, watching in awe as her feathers swished to and fro, with trickles of fire dancing in between. Barsad even gasped, and Ri remembered how it felt to be seen as a freak.

_You're like my own little angel_, Joker used to tell her after she sang him to a dreamy state. If only he could see her now, they would share a laugh out of it for sure.

"Ri, how..." Barsad began to ask. Bane had yet to say anything, he was too busy studying this girl.

"I...I was taken at eleven years old, afterwards...Social services they called it. I was taken at 1:04 in the morning, drugged...put in a plane to Africa...They started experimenting on me, called the experiment, AngelFire. I was made to be the first of an army of AngelFire, a fighting weapon. I broke out, after they had all but wrapped up their experimentation, as you can see the healing of open wounds didn't work out like they thought it would. They were going to start training me into an assassin, they were going to start taking other children...I escaped. And you found me." Ri finished explaining, and let her eyes drift towards the floor.

"Barsad, send a team of Shadow's to destroy this monstrosity." Bane growled, and Ri flinched back, thinking he was talking about her. Of course he was, most people would think she was a monstrosity.

"No, Ri, not you, silly girl, the monsters who forced this on you!" Bane took two steps and lifted her chin up to look into his blue eyes. "We have a deal, and as long as you don't try to escape, I will not hurt you. You have my word."

"All right. But sending a team to destroy won't work." Ri said.

"Whoever they are, we can kill them." Bane said.

"I don't doubt that. It won't work, because I already destroyed all of them."


End file.
